


Newton's First Law

by iiii



Series: Incidents in Transit [9]
Category: Firefly, Supernatural
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-29
Updated: 2013-12-29
Packaged: 2018-01-06 14:24:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1107925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iiii/pseuds/iiii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A body at rest wants to remain at rest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Newton's First Law

"Wake up, Dean. Wake up."

"Huh?" Dean jerked awake to find River at his bedside. "What's going on?"

"You dream too loud."

"Oh. Sorry."

She could see that being abruptly awakened had knocked the nightmare clean out of his head. To the good, she thought. It had been a kaleidoscope of desolation. Scraps of hell, of torture from every possible perspective. Of heaven, with a parody of his mother, snakes for hair, spitting poison in his face. Flickers of his brother, his father, his grandfather, some with wrong-colored eyes, some with no outward sign or signal as they turned on him. Of a woman who grew wings and beak and plucked out his heart. A boy who cursed him for his desertion. Of hunting monster after monster after monster with no rest, no end, same as it ever was, forever and ever, amen. It had been deafening, for those with ears to hear.

"I'm sorry,” River said. “I didn't see."

"What?"

"So bright, and clear as a bell - asleep. Waking spoiled it. Now dolly has the flu.” She met Dean’s eyes. “I didn’t know. I had to, though. Badger... hid from him, pretended I couldn't see his other face. He let me get away. He won’t let you go so easily. I had to break the spell.”

“Badger? Is that the guy who sent you to get us?”

She nodded. 

"Oh. Uhm..." He ran a hand over the back of his head, at a loss. Another face? That needed thinking about, which Dean was not at all equipped to do at that moment.

"Shift over." River crawled over him and curled up, cat-like, between Dean and the wall. "Tell me about the car."

"River..."

"If I lay myself here, I won't have to bestir myself when you louden again. Tell me about the car."

So Dean turned off the light, and lay down beside her, and told her about the car until she fell asleep. Afterward he dreamt of driving blue highways across Iowa in spring sunshine, Steppenwolf on the radio. 

If it was too loud, River didn't say.


End file.
